MBNA balance transfers

How MBNA credit card balance transfers works, what's good and bad about them plus the current range (with up to 36 months at 0%).

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Chris Lilly

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MBNA is part of the Lloyds Banking Group. It doesn’t have any branches, and is probably best known for its 0% credit cards (though it has branched out into loans, insurance and savings).

Current MBNA 0% balance transfer deals

Table: sorted by length of 0% balance transfer offer, promoted deals first
2 of 2 results
Updated daily
Finder Score Balance transfers Purchases Annual/monthly fees Representative APR Incentive
MBNA Long Balance Transfer Credit Card image
9.8Excellent
MBNA Long Balance Transfer Credit Card
9.8Excellent
0% for 36 months
(3.29% fee)
24.94%
£0
24.9% APR (variable)
Earn up to 15% cashback on purchases through Smart Rewards at popular retailers.
Representative example: Representative 24.9% APR variable. Based on assumed borrowing of £1,200. Rate of interest 24.94% p.a. (variable).
More info
Compare product selection
MBNA Dual 0% Transfer and Purchase image
9.9Excellent
MBNA Dual 0% Transfer and Purchase
9.9Excellent
0% for 24 months
(3.49% fee)
0% for 24 months
£0
24.9% APR (variable)
Earn up to 15% cashback on purchases through Smart Rewards at popular retailers.
Representative example: Representative 24.9% APR variable. Based on assumed borrowing of £1,200. Rate of interest 24.94% p.a. (variable).
More info
Compare product selection
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Showing 2 of 2 results

Finder Score for credit cards

To make comparing even easier we came up with the Finder Score. Costs, perks and suitability across 120+ cards are all weighted and scaled to produce a score out of 10. The higher the score the better the card – simple.

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Approval for any credit card depends on your status. The representative APRs shown represent the interest rate offered to most successful applicants. Depending on your personal circumstances, the APR you're offered may be higher, or you may not be offered credit at all. Fees and rates are subject to change without notice. It's always wise to check the terms of any deal before you borrow. Most of the data in Finder's comparison tables is provided by Defaqto.

How do MBNA balance transfers work?

With MBNA, everything’s online – including the first step: checking whether you’re eligible for an MBNA offer.

Like pretty much every UK credit card provider, MBNA lets you check your eligibility without any impact on your credit score (it uses a “soft search” of your credit file, which it calls “Clever Check”). This takes less that 5 minutes and it’s a straightforward form with questions about your income and outgoings.

As well as showing you whether or not you’d be likely to get approved for a credit card, MBNA will also estimate your credit limit. Not all card issuers do that, and if you’re thinking about a balance transfer it’s actually really important to know!

Screenshot of an estimated credit limit in MBNA's credit card eligibility checker tool.

Bear in mind that you can’t use of of that credit limit on your balance transfer. MBNA typically caps balance transfers at 93% of your credit limit. So if you get a £10,000 credit limit, you could balance transfer up to £9,300. With a £5,000 limit you could transfer up to £4,650, etc.

Provided it’s good news, you’re happy with the estimated credit limit and you want to apply, you can go ahead and do so at this point. You won’t have to put all your details in again (thank goodness) but you will have to agree to a “heard search” of your credit file at this point. That’s standard stuff – all credit card issuers will want to run a full search before officially offering you credit. It means a small (and usually shortlived) hit to your credit score.

As part of the application process, you can request the balance transfer. If you opt to do it later, then bear in mind that to get that 0% deal, MBNA normally insists that transfers must made in the first 60 days.

What’s good and bad about MBNA balance transfers?

Pros

  • MBNA's super-competitive on 0% balance transfers. If it doesn't have the very longest deal on the market at any given time, it'll usually be within 2 or 3 months of it.
  • MBNA estimates what credit limit you'd get based on a soft search of your file. Not all card issuers do this, and yet it's absolutely key.
  • MBNA balance transfer cards don't charge an annual fee (balance transfer cards generally don't).
  • You can get a near-instant decision online, without paperwork, without visiting a branch, and you don't even need to wait for your card to arrive for the balance transfer to go ahead.

Cons

  • There's generally a painful transfer fee of around 3% to pay.
  • You have a limited window (generally 60 days) to transfer funds and qualify for that 0% period.
  • You can't use your whole credit limit for a balance transfer – it's usually capped at 93%.
  • After the 0% period has expired, MBNA cards usually revert to a very standard interest rate ("standard" credit card rates are actually pretty horrible, and should be avoided at all costs!).
  • MBNA is part of Lloyds, along with Halifax and Bank of Scotland, so if you're transferring from a Lloyds, Halifax or Bank of Scotland card (or an MBNA card, for that matter) you'll have to go elsewhere.
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Chris Lilly is Head of publishing at finder.com. He's a specialist in personal finance, from day-to-day banking to investing to borrowing, and is passionate about helping UK consumers make informed decisions about their money. In his spare time Chris likes forcing his kids to exercise more. See full bio

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Chris has written 502 Finder guides across topics including:
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